Obsession Part 2
by daydreambeliever32
Summary: The Second part to Obsession - A new breed of AI is discovered, conspiracies involving Aerotech, and West is inadvertantly in the centre of it.
1. Chapter 1

Obession: Part 2

By: Dreamer

Space: Above and Beyond is property of Twentieth Century Fox, Hard Eight Productions, James Wong, and Glen Morgan, and all the other important people that I have forgotten to mention. All the characters, settings and situations from the series itself have been borrowed - no copyright infringement intended. All other characters who were not created by the people at S:AAB, were created by me, and may not be used without my explicit permission. On a side note, I'm sorry that it's taken me practically two years to write this chapter, but I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I had written it. I will be posting bits and pieces as I write so stay tuned! If you have any comments, please ask Una for my new email address, Enjoy!

This chapter takes place after "The Day He Decided" and "…and From the Sidelines Watch Me Fall." The brief mention of NCIS belongs to CBS and is borrowed – no copyright infringement intended. This story is rated Pg 13 for mild language and situations.

ISSAPC – 583010592-1234  
undisclosed region  
June 25 2065  
1436 hours

An air of uncertainty lingered in the air aboard the ISSAPC while Colonel McQueen and Nathan West sat and waited anxiously for the carrier to land on an undisclosed location. Over the course of a few weeks Nathan West couldn't imagine how much he had gone through; and just as he thought life couldn't get any worse, he found out that he was now a target of a sociopathic AI, and was forced to go into hiding for God knows how long. The only good part was that Colonel McQueen would be accompanying him through his ordeal, so he knew that he wouldn't be alone in this mess – at the very least. West had also been briefed that NCIS would be keeping a close surveillance on his family, but from a distance since they are unaware of the current situation and Snider model being unaware of who they were, weren't considered to be not at risk. However, the worst thing about this entire situation was that he would not be able to do anything. There would be no more air, ground or any missions he would be involved into in this war – and that really ticked him off. West looked outside the window after what seemed to be hours of flying and saw nothing but stars and a vast void of darkness. West suddenly looked up and at an attempt to break the awkward silence aboard the ISSAPC he asked Colonel McQueen:

"Sir, how long is this going to go on for?" He asked.

"I don't know Nathan – I don't know. Are you afraid?" Colonel McQueen asked.

"Well sir, I could really use the time off to do some thinking – you know, get my priorities straightened out." West said in a matter of fact way, while McQueen raised an eyebrow at him.

"I'm terrified." West answered right afterwards.

U.S.S. Saratoga  
58th Squadron's Barracks  
June 25 2065  
1540 hours

The members of the 58th squadron walked into their room after they decided that they had consumed enough alcohol to sterilize even themselves. However, upon closer inspection they had noticed that West's bunk seemed bare. Walking closer towards it, Hawkes looked inside the bunk and saw that his books and other personal belonging were gone. He then instinctively moved towards his locker and opened it and also noticed that it had been emptied out.

"West's stuff is gone." Hawkes said confusingly

"Then where the hell is it – actually, more importantly, where the hell is West?" Shane said.

"I haven't seen him since this morning at 0500" – Porter included.

"We were talking in the rec room this afternoon, he got a delivered message – got up and left" Brown said.

"He could of gotten transferred. It was only a matter of time, with Shane back his efforts could have been needed elsewhere. And not to mention (and no offense Shane) he could of requested a transfer on the account of what happened between the both of you" – Phousse stated.

"None taken, but he wouldn't have left without saying anything." Shane responded.

"Maybe he purposely did that – let's face it, West isn't exactly the same person that he was anymore. Maybe he felt like he needed to move on." Hawkes added

"We should go and ask McQueen, maybe he knows what's going on?" Porter suggested.

"Agreed, let's go find him" Shane finished.

ISSAPC – 583010592-1234  
undisclosed region  
June 25 2065  
1500 hours

West looked out the portal on the ISSAPC, still wondering where it was taking him. Not to long afterwards, McQueen sat down beside him and looked at his protoché carefully. West was a good marine – hell, he was a great one; however, his greatest weakness was the fact he bottled up everything on the inside, and that his tough exterior was nothing but a façade. Suddenly, out of nowhere something caught West's eye; it was small at first by grew bigger as the ship approached it and that was when he realized what it was. In fact, it made perfect sense – what better place to hide that would be impenetrable to silicates than earth? Since the Stratahan virus had infected the AI's, Secretary General Chartwell and the U.N. had declared that the artificial silicates were known to have committed acts of terrorism and were banned from even entering the solar system. As the ISSAPC approached earth, West thought to himself about how all the troubles that he had run away from were now once again back in his life and it was something that he was not able to deal with yet. It was also in that instant that he felt like he should be more honest to Colonel McQueen:

"Sir?" West asked.

"Yea?" McQueen answered

"Since I don't know how long I'm going into hiding, or if you'll be around for all this, I thought I'd come clean about what's been going on with me" West answered hesitantly, while McQueen looked at him.

"Ok, talk to me. What's been going on Nathan?" McQueen asked.

"Alot sir - I mean, I've been in therapy…" Nathan began to say, but McQueen interjected:

"Nathan, I know you've gone through a lot – but it's been almost a year now. You need to drive on; what happened to Wang wasn't your fault" McQueen said reassuringly.

"It's not just that, sir" Nathan responded, while McQueen looked at him inquisitively.

"Ok, if not that than you need to move on from what happened between you and Vansen. There's a war on, and you know as well as I, that people like us don't get the luxury with grieving and getting over things with time. It can impair your judgment when you're out in the field and you can endanger not only yourself, but everyone out there with you. West, we've had this conversation before." McQueen responded in a caring yet reminding nature.

"Even my family thinks I'm "mentally unstable" for this job – so you're not alone in your opinion, sir" West said calmly and continued: "that's why they wanted me to discharge – but I couldn't; I guess on some level they're afraid that they're going to get another one of those yellow envelopes from the marines one day with my name on it and the thought of losing another son was to much for them to bare. So some things were said – horrible things, but in the end it came down to me choosing the 58th or them. Well, we know how that turned out; needless to say, they don't want anything to do with me anymore." West answered.

"West, you know you're not alone - you have the 58th and there's still someone waiting for you back home…" McQueen began to reassure.

"Who, Kylen? I pretty sure she's moved on – judging from what, or should I say who she was with in her bedroom" West said sadly.

"Jesus, West did you break a mirror or something?" McQueen answered

"I wish. Could we keep this between us, sir?" West asked

"Yeah, does anyone else know?" McQueen

"Just you, my therapist and Brown; well actually, Brown kind of figured it out on her own." West answered and looked out the portal and saw the earth becoming closer into view.

"So why couldn't you discharge?" McQueen asked

"I don't abandon the people I care about, sir" Nathan answered straightly. Suddenly, West and McQueen looked out the window, felt and saw the ISSAPC slow down as it dissented towards the earth. McQueen looked over at Nathan, and vice versa as the younger man of the two knew exactly what his superior officer was going to say next:

"You're not coming are you, sir?" Nathan said

"No, I'm not. My orders were to see you that you made it to earth safely and to brief you." McQueen said while Nathan nodded; McQueen continued:

"When we land on planet you will be escorted from the air base to an SUV with guards. To not look too conspicuous and a helicopter will follow your car to an undisclosed location. There you'll have round the clock security, while the Pentagon figures out the next move into terminating the Snyder unit. Do you have any questions?" McQueen explained while looking concerned.

"So, I'm officially in the witness protection program. Great." West said.

"It's not forever, and it could be worst." McQueen said

"I know sir; but does the 58th have to be in the dark about this?" West asked

"Yes they do, the less they know about this the better; you have to protect them." McQueen answered

"Yes sir – and sorry" Nathan answered

"About what?" McQueen asked

"I got you involved in all of this" Nathan answered

"West, you know I will always be there for you – I don't abandon the people I care about either" McQueen said, as he revealed to Nathan a side which he usually never showed to the rest of the squad.

"Thanks sir" Nathan answered

SUV – 12309854-12312.5  
undisclosed region  
June 26 2065  
0400 hours

Nathan tried to look out the tinted window but found it hard to make out any images outside of the car because of the night darkness. There was an air of slight uneasiness as he sat beside two guards on either side of the back seat of a large SUV vehicle. He laughed briefly to himself as he thought he may as well be the president or some important political figure as everyone in the car looked like secret service. Of course, that was all part of the disguise as a marine with a bunch of military guards would look rather conspicuous, so regular civilian wear was preferred, but little did he know that all these efforts would mean nothing in a matter of seconds.


	2. Chapter 2

Obsession Chapter 2

Here's the second chapter of Obsession, same disclaimer as declared in chapter 1, enjoy!

-

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A sudden flash of fire and a loud explosion sounded as the SUV carrying Nathan West and his guards tumbled off of the mountain side road and onto a steep slope. Nathan felt pressure coming from all over as the windows smashed into millions of pieces and the sides of the car caved in. After what seemed liked forever, the SUV finally reached the bottom of the mountain and stopped. Surprisingly, the SUV had landed right side up, with all of its occupants still inside. Nathan moaned in pain when he finally regained some consciousness moments later, and to his surprise he was the only one who was awake. His marine instincts took over as he reached over to check the pulse of two of his bodyguards and was relieved when he found that they were still alive. Next, he tried to moved, but found that it was extremely painful when he did and was reminded that his injuries from Planet 2063 Yankee had not fully healed yet. Suddenly, Nathan heard the driver groan in the front of the car and looked up as he turned around.

"Sir, are you okay?" The asked, while he revealed a bloody head wound on the right side of his forehead.

"Yeah, I think so. I also checked the pulses of the other two. They're still alive" West answered, referring to the two bodyguards that sat on either side of him.

"Good. There's a GPS in this car, so back up should be here shortly, and we'll secure you to a safer..." The driver's sentence was cut short when a bullet was sent flying through the windshield and struck the side of his head. In a split second, another bullet smashed into the left-backside of the car, instantly killing one of West's guards. Acting on instinct, West knew that he was being targeted and frantically unbuckled himself and took the gun from the holster of the dead guard, kicked the door open and scrambled out. As he ran away from the car, he heard and saw two single gun shots inside the SUV and realized that the two remaining guards were now dead as well. Dazed, West was running towards a tree for some sort of cover, when he dropped the gun he was holding as a sharp pain hit his left-shoulder. As Nathan lay on the ground, he heard footsteps approaching his position and in his last desperate attempt he weakly reached for the gun. However, he was stopped short as a foot stepped on top of the gun just as West touched it.

"Did you really think I'd let you get away?" The Snyder model said menacingly before punching West unconscious.


	3. Chapter 3

**Obsession Part 2 – Chapter 3**

***S*A*A*B***

A/N: Dear readers, you'll notice that my writing style for this story will/has changed considerably since I last left off (which was awhile ago, sorry!). Space: Above and Beyond will always have a special place in my heart; however, I've moved on and I've decided that this will be my final story for the series. I will be concentrating more on my other fanfics from here on out. Now, I won't give anything away, but I did originally imagine this story to end a lot differently than how I'm going to write it now. I really want to thank anyone and everyone who's read my S:AAB stories and for anyone who gave a damn about this awesome series that ended before it was even given a chance. So without further adieu, I give you the final chapters, enjoy!

***S*A*A*B***

Back aboard the U.S.S. Saratoga, the remaining 58th members practically stormed through the corridors until they reached Colonel McQueen's quarters. Vansen knocked and announced herself a few times, but there was no answer. After searching awhile the squad gave up and decided that they needed to approach the matter to someone higher and with that they knew Commodore Ross would know where Nathan and Colonel McQueen had disappeared to.

"Sir, may we have a word?" Vansen asked as the rest of the squad followed her into the briefing room the Commodore was currently stationed at.

"Very well Captain, what's on your mind?" Ross answered her with a nod.

"Sir, Captain West is missing and so are his belongings. We were wondering if he has been transferred sir." Vansen asked.

"He has. It was effective immediately." Ross answered vaguely, but Vansen wouldn't give up.

"Sir, do you know where to? It's not like him to just leave without a warning or a goodbye." Vansen pressed.

"It's classified, Captain Vansen. All of you listen: Captain West has been transferred to another unit. He was needed elsewhere, now drive on – you're Marines so stop acting like a bunch of high-school girls. You're dismissed." Ross said in his annoyed voice. Though deep down he wanted to tell them the truth but couldn't for their own good.

"Yes sir." Everyone replied in unison.

"Sir" Hawkes suddenly turned around and asked.

"What is it now Lieutenant?" Ross asked in an even more annoyed tone.

"Sir, we're looking for Colonel McQuecen do you know his whereabouts?" Hawkes asked.

"He's in a meeting with INTEL right now and won't be back for a few days. Now if that's EVERTHING, I'd like you all to return to whatever it was you were doing. Oh and mission briefing tomorrow at 0530, now go." Ross answered vaguely again.

***S*A*A*B***

Nathan woke up in a cold sweat. He was in instant pain when he tried to move, not that he could since he was restrained. Trying to remain calm, he took a look at his surroundings. It looked like he was in a factory of some sort, but he couldn't be sure. It was cold, damp and dark. He then looked upwards and saw that his hands were tied above his head to a pole and that he was kneeling. The last thing he remembered was trying to get away from Snyder but that obviously had failed, but that wasn't the worst part. Not only didn't he know where he was or what Snyder wanted with him, but no one else knew either. And at that instant, he came to the realization that if he was going to make it out of this alive he would have to rely on faith. The sad part was: he didn't have much of that these days.

"I see you're finally awake Captain West. I hope you enjoyed your rest." Snyder said menacingly as he walked towards Nathan. Nathan answered with a look of pure hatred and remained silent.

"I have to say, you're people did a very bad job trying to hide you. In fact, I don't even know why they even bothered; it would have been a lot less messy." Snider continued, but being who he was Nathan hated the fact Snyder was beating around the bush – taunting him even. He wanted to get to the point.

"You would have killed me if you wanted to by now. What do you want from me?" Nathan asked bluntly.

"Aren't we impatient? By the way, that's something we'll need to work on – not one of your best traits. But I'll tell you what, since I'm intrigued by you, I'll let know why I chose you." The Snider model began.

"Chose me for what exactly?" Nathan asked while it took all of his Marine training to keep himself calm at his current situation.

"You know I've been watching you for a long time now and you've made me realize something. Did you know I was originally designed by Aerotech as a way for comatose patients to be revived?" Snyder explained as Nathan suddenly looked up confused.

"It's true, Aerotech was trying to do some good and make up for the AI wars and that's why they invented me. See whenever someone is in that state their body is no longer functional and doctors do whatever they can to preserve brain function but it decreases gradually as a patient remains in a comatose state. But what if they could temporarily transfer those brainwaves somewhere else while the body heals?" Snyder explained as Nathan looked intrigued.

"I was originally created to help comatose war veterans have a second chance. See while doctors would help with the physical healing, their mind would be transferred to me thus preserving the brain while decreasing the chance of brain damage by 99.8%. Meanwhile, loved ones would be able to see and talk to that person. I guess you could think of me as an AI without any of the hard wiring." Snyder then added.

"Are you going to arrive to a point to your story anytime soon?" Nathan asked mockingly. While Snyder just smiled.

"53-4678-4421." Snyder replied vaguely.

"I don't understand. What does that mean?" Nathan asked.

"That was my serial number when I enlisted in the Marines 6 years ago." Snyder answered.

"I didn't think the corps accepted psychotic robots." Nathan mocked this time earning him a head slap.

"You know, for someone as intelligent as you are, you're pretty stupid. Let me spell it out for you, my name is Captain Yale Derns: I was part of a black ops unit who was sent to eliminate a high Chig official on the planet Xerxes. It was simple, go in eliminate the target and get out; the only thing we didn't count on was a bomb. My entire unit was killed and I was comatose. In short, there was no confirmation of the kill so it was decided that they would try an experimental process where everything that was associated with my mind would be downloaded into this "vessel". It was successful, but there was one set back, I couldn't confirm the kill when they half brought me back, and I became a liability when they realized that I had the ability to hack into any system just by thinking about it." Snyder explained.

"They were going to kill you weren't they? That report of you being a superior breed of AI was just a cover story so that Aerotech wouldn't be liable for creating something dangerous again. And that lab I first saw you in, that's where they did this to you isn't it?" Nathan finished for him.

"Exactly, and I've been hunted ever since. It took me awhile to figure out who I was again but I eventually remembered and I escaped. They were going to eliminate me, just like they did to my body when they figured out that my mind couldn't be placed back into my body again. The experiment was irreversible so they decided to get rid of any evidence that could tie them to this. I gave my life to my country and to earth and I was repaid like this." Snyder said bitterly.

"Why does all of this have to do with me?" Nathan asked.

"I wasn't just studying your behaviour Captain, I was looking for a solution to my little predicament, and for me to do that I needed to know everything there was about you. You and I are a lot alike, we both gave up everything for something or someone and we've both literally had everything that was important to us taken away. The difference is I'm willing to fight to get it all back, while you sat there and sulked." Snyder answered and smiled evilly as Nathan realized in horror what the AI wanted.

"Oh my God. You've found a way to get out of that body haven't you?" Nathan said in horror as Snyder walked closer to him.

"I'm not only going to replace you Captain, I'm going to be you. Look on the bright side: both of us won't be in pain anymore." Snyder said as he injected Nathan with an anaesthetic solution.

***S*A*A*B***

Colonel McQueen was worried. Nathan and his guards should have arrived at the safe house by now, except they hadn't checked in. Right now, he was on his way back to the Saratoga and was going to see if there was any news on Nathan yet. However, McQueen couldn't help but feel that something went wrong.

And something did go wrong.

It hadn't been a minute yet when McQueen was finally back on the 'Toga before Commodore Ross had personally come down to drag him into his quarters for a meeting.

"Snyder's got him Ty, I'm sorry." Ross said.

"How the hell?..." McQueen began

"We don't know yet, the SUV he was in was found ripped apart near a hill side and all of his guards were found dead – shot execution style." Ross answered.

"Do we know where he is now?" McQueen asked

"INTELL is triangulating the Nano-GPS-Bug we implanted into him. Snyder shouldn't be able to track it; it's so heavily encrypted that even he couldn't sense it." Admiral Ratner said as he approached the two men.

"Sir, if you don't mind I'd like to be frank and as say that there seems to be a lot you're doing to protect Captain West." McQueen said bluntly.

"Colonel.." Ross interjected as he knew what McQueen was getting

"Unless of course there's some sort of ulterior motive here and the whole point of all this isn't to protect a Marine, but use him as bait, sir." McQueen said in a stone cold voice. He could also see that Admiral Ratner flinched when he called him out which proved he was right.

"Secure a briefing room now – we need to talk." Ratner said as Ross and McQueen followed him.

***S*A*A*B***

A/N okay readers, there you have it – I'll try and up date as soon as I can, but I will be writing my other fanfic simultaneously and grad school's starting soon, so I apologize in advance (and again) for late posts. However, let me assure you, I have every intention of finishing this story :) Until next time!

P.S. I hope some of you could see where I got the name SNYDER from :) It's an anagram: SNYDER = Y. DERNS or Yale Derns.


End file.
